Can mushroom parties escape INEC’s axe?

The decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register some parties has generated controversy. In this report, AUGUSTINE AVWODE examines the powers behind other mushroom parties and how far they can hold on.

The Independent National Electoral Commission,(INEC) has wielded the big stick again. It de-registered three more political parties at the weekend. It was the third time the commission would apply the sledge hammer. The action brought the total number of political parties delisted to 38, since the exercise began.

According to a statement by INEC Secretary Abdullahi Kaugama, the electoral umpire’s decision to de-register the parties was based on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).

Political parties delisted, according to the statement were African Renaissance Party (ARP); National Democratic Party (NDP) and the National Transformation Party (NTP).

The statement gave reasons for INEC’s de-registration of the ARP and NDP, which it said, was based on their inability to meet the requirements of Section 223(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution(as amended). The section deals with the composition of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of political parties.

INEC also alleged that the parties have “no verifiable headquarters office contrary to Section 222(f) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)” and have “not won a seat in the National and State Assemblies.”

On the NTP, the commission said it was deregistered because the composition of its national executive committee (NEC) has failed to meet the requirements of Section 223(1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) in addition to its inability to win a seat in the National and state assemblies.

The commission has refused to bulge even in the face of severe criticisms and threats of legal actions against it by the affected parties.

As at the last general election in April 2011, there were 63 political parties in the country. Out of the lot, only six have governors in various states of the federation today. These are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP), the Congress for Positive Change (CPC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Labour Party (LP). These have come to be known as the big players. But few parties have managed to cling on to life by virtue of the powers behind them, and, of course, satisfying the all important provision of winning at least one elective seat at the federal or state level of either legislative or executive posts. Prominent among these concert of medium parties are the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), Accord, Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) and Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN).

While they have not been able to win the governorship position in any state, these parties managed to remain a force to be reckoned with in some states across the country where they are quite visible.

The DPP for instance has transformed itself over the few years to be the leading opposition party in Delta State. It actually snatched one senatorial slot from the PDP in the 2011 general election. The PDP in Delta State had ruled with little or no opposition to it until the coming of the DPP to the state. It used to be a thing of pride among stalwarts of the PDP in the state to announce with glee, that the only opposition to the party in the state is the party itself.

DPP’s highest electoral success remains its winning of the Delta Senatorial District election, which has been described in some quarters as “the minority of minorities”. But in addition, it also won a sizeable number of the Delta State House of Assembly seats.

In Oyo State, the Accord cannot lay claim to the governorship seat or winning any senatorial seat but in the state House of Assembly, it has a reasonable presence that can only be disregarded at one’s political peril.

Circumstantial birth

These parties came into being as a result of the prevailing circumstances in some of the big parties as at the time they emerged. For the record, most of the parties under discussion are splinter groups from the PDP. And they are often led by an individual who feels strong enough politically to call the bluff of his former party or his inability to stomach much of what was going on in it.

In Ogun State for example, the irreconcilable differences that engulfed the PDP led to the emergence of the PPN led by then outgoing governor Gbenga Daniel. But his aides and top members of the PPN denied then that Daniel was leaving the PDP.

But former governorship aspirant of the PDP in Ogun State, Mr. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka who lost to Gen. Tunji Olurin through a court judgment, blamed the “raw power” being used by some members of the PDP in the state then for the mass defection to the PPN. He later contested that election on the platform of the PPN. The defection of Isiaka and other influential members of the PDP into PPN immediately boosted the party ’s profile in the state while depleting the chances of the PDP.

For the record, all the candidates of the Gbenga Daniel faction running for House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats, who were excluded by the court from running on the ticket of the PDP, were allowed to run on the platform of the PPN.

But PPN has only managed a distant third in the hierarchy of parties in the state. In the last local government election in the state, the ruling ACN won 19 chairmanship seats out of the 20 in the state; 217 councillorship seats, while the PDP and the PPN won eight and one councillorship seats respectively.

In Kwara State, the late Dr. Olusola Saraki led his loyalists to dump the PDP. They embraced the ACPN.

It was learnt then that the strong man of Kwara politics decided to use ACPN to reach out to all the existing political parties in Kwara to forge a coalition, with sufficient strength to dislodge PDP in the state. The resolve by the senior Saraki to enthrone Senator Gbemisola as the next governor of Kwara in the governorship election was the reason he dumped the PDP. The Kwara political icon said he was never a card-carrying member of PDP but had since 2003 remained the major pillar behind the party in the state. But the ACPN could not dislodge the PDP in the state. And, soon after the election, a reconciliation meeting between the PDP and ACPN took place.

In Oyo State former governor Rasheed Ladoja also dumped the PDP for the Accord. He latter explained that: “a party that does not believe in people will fail. Since 2007, I have been advising the PDP to try and reconcile with the people of the southwest. They have refused to do that. Instead, they believe that force , which they used in 2007 elections, will see them through again . We have seen the effects of their inaction. Since that time, they have lost Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun. So, PDP will be swept off in Oyo state and I am not bothered because I know my party will win because the people of Oyo state are ready for us. They have tested me and they have found me worthy and they are going to vote for me again”.

Unfortunately for Ladoja, the people of Oyo State preferred Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the ACN to be their governor. But the Accord did relatively well in the state House of Assembly.

For how long will INEC’s hammer dangle?

All the medium parties are personality driven. In Delta State, the personality of Great Ogboru looms large. He is loved by the people and his association with the party has been the sustaining influence of the party in the state. It is indeed doubtful if DPP has any other visible image across the country apart from what it is doing in Delta State.

It is a fact that the former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, who flew the party’s flag as its presidential candidate in 2007 has since returned to the ANPP from where he came. In fact, but for the Delta State chapter of the party, it probably would have been deregistered along with others.

Accord is tied to Senator Ladoja. And he is the personality that has been giving it some life. Apart form Ladoja, it is hard to associate the Accord with any other renowned politician in the country. The PPN is also closely connected to Daniel. In fact, there is hardly any other state in the country, apart from Ogun, where PPN is visible.

Herein lie the problems of these parties. With the removal of party subventions by the federal government, funding becomes a problem. It is increasingly becoming a tough task financing political parties these days. But the greatest problem to these parties is the possibility of the personality behind them “moving on to another platform”. In the event of such a development, it will be a matter of time before INEC’s hammer falls.

In Oyo State, Ladoja is courted by seriously by his former party – the PDP. It has never hidden the desire to see that Ladoja returns to the party with his supporters. In fact, to a section of the PDP, Ladoja’s defection to Accord was responsible in part, for its defeat in the state.

In a bid to ensuring that the party wins him back to its fold, several meetings have been held to reconcile all aggrieved factions. Most intriguing, political watchers in the state say, was the visit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to Ladoja’s Bodija residence in Ibadan not long ago. Obasanjo allegedly told newsmen that , “Ladoja belongs here. As you can see, he is on his way back to the party. As you c see, it is condition that makes the crayfish bend and we are making efforts to straighten the crayfish. I am sure that the PDP in the state and the entire South-West will bounce back and reclaim power.” That should be enough warning to those who want Accord to continue to exist as an independent party.

In Delta, there is an alleged plan to by Ogboru to defect to the ACN. If that happens, it will be the end of DPP. And should the PDP succeed in effecting a lasting reconciliation in Ogun State, Daniel and his supporters will be back and PPN would vanish from the political horizon.

In Kwara, with the reconciliation of the ACPN and PDP, and even now that Baba Oloye has passed to the great beyond, the chances of the continued existence of ACPN are slim.

Should this happen to these parties, the axe man may be nearer than anticipated. At the end of the day, may be only 10 parties will be available to face the electorate in 2015.